Governor-retarding device for elevator-safeties.



A. M. 00m. GOVERNOR RETARDING DEVICE FOR ELEVATOR SAFETIES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1 I. 190]. LQWAWQ Patented Dec. 12, 1916. 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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, 'A.'M. COYLE. GOVERNOR RETARDING DEVICE FOR ELEVATOR SAFETIES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11 190].

Patented M012, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- WITNESSES: M 29/04 1. flmwifi ATTORNEY VENTOR 1 @AE% A ANDREW M. COYLE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

GOVERNOR-RETARDING DEVICE FOR ELEVATOR-SAFETIES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

lPatented Dec. 12, 1916.

Application filed June 11, 1907. Serial No. 378,356.

is the provision of retarding mechanism with a governor rope.

Other objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter, the novel combinations of elements being pointed out in the appended claims.

Although I have shown my invention applied to an elevator system, it should be understood it may have a general application.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an elevator system having my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 shows the governor retarding device, the parts being in their relative positions after the same have been operated; Fig. 8 is a view of the elevator car and safety device shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a part sectional side elevation of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2, the parts be ing in their normal positions; Fig. 6 is a detail view of a well known elevator safety device shown in Figs. 1 and 3 on the bottom of the elevatorcar.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6, C designates an elevator car arranged to travel along the guide rails 16, 16.

D designates a hoisting drum operated by a motor M by means of the ordinary worm gearing to effect the lifting and lowering of the car C in a well known manner. The hoisting cable 1 and the counterweight cable 2 pass over the sheaves 4: and 5, respectively, which are mounted upon the fixed overhead beam 6 at the top of the elevator well or hatchway.

3 designates a counterweight which partially balances the car and its load.

Mounted upon the overhead beam 6 is my improved governor retarding device 7, around the pulley of which passes the traveling safety cable or rope 8. This cable 8 travels with. the elevator car C, being held in yielding engagement therewith by means of the stop balls 15, 15 and the spring de: vice 14:, which latter is fastened to the car. The safety cable is an endless loop, and at a point between the pulleys 10, 10 which are A mounted on a bracket 11 connected to the bottom of the car, is connected a branch cable 8 which is wound about the safety drum 12 and has its other end fastened thereto.

9 designates a weighted sheave tension device for holding the overnor rope 8 taut. The upward movement of the movable parts of the tension device 9 is limited by the projections 17, 17.

Referring now to Fig. 6, it will be seen that the safety device there shown comprises a safety drum 12 on which the cable 8 is wound and to which it is securely fastened at the point 121. This drum is mounted upon left-hand and right-hand threaded shafts 18, 18', to the outer ends of which are connected the wedge members 19, 19.

23 and 2 1- designate sets of clamping jaws pivoted at 25, 25 and having anti-friction rollers 22 in engagement with the wedges 19, 19.

18, 13' designate supports or bearings for the shafts 18, 18, which supports are fastened to the bottom of the car.

56, 56 designate springs for the purpose of keeping the clamping jaws 23 and 241 normally out of engagement with the guide rails 16, 16.

The wedges 19, 19 have inclined faces 20 and 21 of different pitch, and the rollers 22 normally engage the high pitch faces 20, 20. The object in having the wedge faces of different pitch is to cause the clamping jaws to be moved quickly in engagement with the guides when the safety device is thrown into action, after which the rollers 22, 22 pass onto the low pitch wedge faces 21, 21 and the jaws grip the guide rails with increased power as the wedges are forced be tween the rollers 22, 22.

vThe foregoing description of the safety device shown in Fig. 6 applies to a typical elevator safety device, and I do not claim the specific features contained therein, since the construction and operation of the same are well known in the art, and contain nothing new nor novel. My invention, however, relates to the goveror retarding device designated by the numeral 7 in Fig. 1, which governor device is for the purpose of efiecting the application of the elevator safety device upon excessive speed of the elevator car.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, in which my device is shown in normal position, 28 designates the governor frame, and 26 a grooved pulley or sheave mounted upon the shaft 34 which is free to revolve in the antifriction bearings 37, 37. Set screws 31, 31 serve to retain the bearings 37, 37 in proper position in the bosses forming a part of the governor frame 28 or the upper parts of the standards thereof. The metal oscillating lever or rider 36 is mounted loosely on the shaft 34, and has a downward or projecting portion 38 and an upward extension. Two pairs of links 40, 40 are pivoted to the projection 38 at 53, 53, respectively. The lower ends of these links are pivoted respectively at 54, 54 to the levers 51, 51 which are piv oted at 30, 30, and which are connected to the movable deflecting, bending or retarding jaws 49, 49. Preferably the levers 51, 51 are respectively integral with the deflecting members 49, 49 or connected rigidly thereto, orare so connected thereto as to actuate the same at the proper time. Opposite the downwardly and laterally extending jaws are fixed shoulders or deflecting abutments 50, 50, both of which are grooved for receiving the governor rope 8; the inner surfaces of the deflecting jaws 49, 49 are similarly grooved. At the upper end of the rider 36 is an extension 35 projecting, in this instance, substantially perpendicularly to the web portion of the pulley 26.

32, 32 designate lubricating devices for the shaft 34. These devices are provided at their upper ends with screw caps 33, 33, and have oil ducts 52, 52 which are for the purpose'of conveying the lubricating material to the bearings 37, 37.

42, and 42 designate raised portions or parts securely fastened on the web of the pulley 26. To these raised portions are pivotally connected the pendulum detents 41, 41, by means of the nut-locked fiat-headed screws 43, 43, respectively. These detents are preferably flat, and pivoted loosely so as to be free to swing within certain limits. Each of the detents 41, 41 is provided with an opening or hole 44, 44, through which projects a fixed pin 45, 45. The latter are of smaller diameter than the openings 44, 44, so that the detents will have a to and fro or pendulum movement during the rotation of the governor sheave 26.

As shown in Fig. 5 by the full lines, the points 46 and 46 will pass under the projection 35 when the car runs at its normal speed and the sheave 26 rotates in the direction of the arrow. There may be one, two or more of the detents 41, 41. It should be particularly noted, however, that by reason of the pins 48, 48 corresponding to those designated 45, 45, the detents 41, 41 may be reversed in their positions, or one may be reversed and the other allowed to remain as indicated by the full lines. The dotted lines to the left of Fig. 5 show a detent in its reversed position, and its radial face arranged to approach the projection 35 when the sheave 26 rotates in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow. In other words, there may be one or more detents having radial faces approaching the projection 35 when the sheave rotates in one direction, and one or more other detents having radial faces approaching the projection 35 when the sheave 26 rotates in the opposite direction, so that the governor de vice will effect the operation of the safety device on the car when the latter travels beyond a predetermined speed in either direction. The speed governor proper comprises the sheave 26 and the parts connected thereto and rotating therewith; and also the rider 36. This speed governor connected by means of the links 40 to the deflecting jaws 49 and 49, is adapted to operate the later, and thereby effect a breaking or retarding action on the governor rope 8, as more fully explained hereinafter.

The operation of my improved device is as follows: As the elevator car moves upwardly, the governor rope or cable 8 will also move upwardly, causing the governor sheave or pulley 26 to revolve in a counterclockwise direction, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5. As the sheave 26 revolves at normal speed, the detents 41, 41 revolve with it, and as each detent, for instance that designated 41, approaches the extension 35 of the rider or operating lever 36, or shortly before assuming a vertical position, the dctent, owing to the relative change of position of its center of gravity, will assume the position shown at the right in Fig. 5. As the sheave 26 revolves still further, the outer end 46, of the radial face of the detent 41 will readily pass under the extension 35 of the rider 36, and there will be no engagement therewith. The detent 41 also swings to and fro in the nature of a pendulum, and will go through the same cycle of operation, and as the sheave 26 revolves the detents will alternately pass under the extension 35 and will swing back and forth on their pivots 43 and 43, respectively, thus automatically continuously acting as a test that the governor device will operate as required when the car attains an excessive speed.

Let it now be assumed that the elevator car as well as the governor sheave 26 attains excessive speed. The result will be that the detents will, under the increased centrifugal force acting upon them, remain in their outermost position. The detents are made of such weight that they will not be thus held in outermost position except when the rotation of the sheave 26 exceeds a predetermined rate of speed. When the pendulum detents are held in outermost position, those radial faces approaching the projection 35 will engage the latter and revolve the same with the sheave 26. As the rider 36 and the attached mechanism is revolved with the sheave, the links 40 will pull upon the levers 51, 51 and cause the movable defiecting jaws 49, 49 to engage the cable 8 and bend it about the fixed abutments 50, 50 with a predetermined force depending upon the relative proportions of the parts. This gripping effect may be made very powerful and effective and so as to absolutely hold the governor rope 8 stationary, but the parts are preferably so arranged that there is only a braking or retarding action on the governor rope, that is, it is yieldingly held so that slipping may take place if the pull on the governor rope exceeds a predetermined value, the deflecting jaws and abutments acting as brakes on the ropes. If the gripping effect is sufficient to stop the governor rope before the governor wheel has been brought to rest, the rope will act on the periphery of the governor wheel as a frictional retarding device or brake and assist in bringing the wheel to rest.

It should be understood that although I have shown two deflecting jaws and two abutments, there may be only one deflecting jaw and a single abutment cooperating therewith to retard the governor rope suffi ciently to effect the operation of the safety device carried by the car. In using one retarding device comprising a movable deflecting member and a fixed abutment, the arrangement may also be such that the retarding device acts as a locking device to hold the rope 8 absolutely stationary, but I prefer to arrange the parts so that there may be slipping of the governor rope.

By using a double retarding device or two separate retarding devices, each actuated by the rider 86 and associated with portions of the governor rope extending from the sheave 26, I secure a double effect in retarding the governor rope at two portions thereof, and furthermore in increasing the are of frictional engagement of the governor rope with the sheave 26, and thus bringing into play the governor sheave itself in assisting to retard the governor rope.

The resultant action upon the safety device carried by the car, when the retarding devices are operated by the governor, is well known and needs no detailed description, it being sufficient to state that when the governor rope is yieldingly held by the deflect ing apparatus, any subsequent movement of the elevator car causes the safety drum 12 to be revolved to cause outward movement of the safety wedges, and the conse= quent gripping of the guide rails by the clamping jaws to stop the car.

I have shown the operation of my improved governor retarding apparatus when the same revolved in a counter-clockwise direction beyond a predetermined rate of speed. It is frequently desirable to have a governor which will operate to actuate the deflecting apparatus, no matter in which way the governor sheave revolves, thus set ting the car brakes upon excessive speed of the car in either direction of travel. In such cases I simply turn one of the detents over on its pivot 43 to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, or I provide additional detents, similar in every respect to those already shown, and pivoted at substantially equal distances from the center of the sheave 26, the only difference being that the openings in such detents will pass over the pins 48, L8. With such construction, one pair of detents may be made to effect the deflection of the cable 8 upon excessive speed of the car in one direction, while the other pair may effect the same thing in the other direction. I frequently provide more than two sets of detents, the actual number used being optional and merely a duplication of parts, the essential features and mode of operation remaining the same in every instance.

The sensitiveness of the governor, or the critical speed at which it will operate to throw in the deflecting apparatus, may be varied in numerous ways, such, for instance, as altering the position of the pivot pins 43, 43 in relation to the shaft 34; another way is to vary the form of the detent, or springs may be provided, which springs may be varied in tension and which normally hold the detents out of engagement with the projection 35 of the rider 36. V

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and I desire therefore not to be limited to the preeise construction herein disclosed.

What I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent of the United ening, in effect, the leads between the abutments and the rotatable member.

2. The combination with a rotatable member, of a flexible connection associated there with to drive the same, a retarding apparatus associated with said flexible connection,

an operating lever connected to said retarding apparatus, a means carried by the rotatable member for engaging and operating said lever to effect the application of the retarding apparatus to one or both portions of the flexible connection extending beyond said rotatable member.

3. The combination with a rotatable member, of a driving connection therefor, a retarding mechanism associated with said connection, a rider mounted concentrically to said rotatable member, a means carried by said rotatable member and movable by centrifugal force into position to engage the rider, and connections between the rider and the retarding mechanism.

4. lhe combination with a rotatable member, of a rider pivoted for movement about the same axis as said member, an actuating device carried by the rotatable member and movable by centrifugal force into position to engage the rider, and retarding mechanism movable relatively to and operated by said rider.

5. The combination with a rotatable member, of a rider pivoted concentrically therewith, an actuating device carried by the rotatable member and movable by centrifugal force into position to operate the rider, and retarding mechanism operated by the rider.

6. In an elevator, the combination with a car, of a safety device therefor, a speed governor, a' cable yieldingly connected to the car and connecting the safety device and speed governor, a deflecting mechanism operated by the governor to bend both portions of said cable extending from the speed governor to yieldingly hold said cable, and effect the operation of the safety device to stop the car.

7. The combination with a speed governor, of an elevator car, a safety device carried by the car, a governor rope or cable running with the car and connecting the safety device to the speed governor. and retarding apparatus operated by the governor upon the speed of the car exceeding a predetermined limit to deflect and retard both portions of said cable extending from the governor device, and yieldingly hold said cable in frictional engagement with the governor device.

8. The combination with an elevator car, of a safety device therefor, a speed governor, a flexible connection between the safety device and said speed governor, a retarding device having a fixed and a movable member, and connections actuated by the governor when the car speed is excessive to move the movable member of said retarding deviceinto engagement with said flexible connection and deflect or bend the same against said fixed member.

9. In an elevator, the combination with a speed governor, of a governor rope associated therewlth, two retardlng devlces, each havlng a fixed member and a movable member, and connectlons actuated by the governor when the rate of rotation thereof exceeds a predetermined limit to cause the movable members of said retarding devices to engage both portions of the said rope extending from the governor device and deflect or bend the same against said fixed members.

10. In speed governing mechanism, the combination with a rotatable member, of a cable associated therewith to drive the same, a retarding apparatus for deflecting a portion of the cable extending from said rotatable member, and means for ope 'atina said retarding apparatus upon the rotatable member rotating in either direction beyond a predetermined rate of speed.

11. In speed governing mechanism, the combination with a rotatable sheave, of a driving cable in engagement therewith, one or more pawls looselypivoted on the web of said sheave and having radial engaging faces, stop pins projecting through openings in said pawls to permit limited swinging or pendulum movements of said pawls, a. retarding mechanism associated with said cable, and actuating appliances connected to said retarding mechanism and operated by one of said radial face-s engaging a part of said appliances upon the speed of rotation of said sheave exceeding a predetermined limit.

12. The combination with a rotatable sheave, of a lever mounted concentrically to said sheave, reversible centrifugally operated pendulum pawls carried by said sheave and engaging an extension of said lever upon the rate of rotation of said rotatable sheave exceeding a predetermined limit, one or two deflecting devices, each comprising a movable jaw and a fixed abutment, a flexible cable associated with said sheave and passing between said movable jaws and said fixed abutments, respectively, and connections between said lever and the movable jaws to actuate the latter and cause the sam to deflect the portions of the cable extending from the rotatable sheave against the said abutments, and increase the arc of frictional engagement between the cable and said sheave.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREW M. COYLE.

Witnesses:

HAROLD J. HIRs'r, A. WV. ZABRISKIE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

